The present invention relations to housing attaching devices and assemblies. The invention is particularly useful for attaching junction housings for recessed lighting fixtures to ceiling panels, and is therefore described below with respect to such an application, but it will be appreciated the invention could be used in other applications as well.
Junction boxes for recessed lighting fixtures are frequently attached to ceiling panels using screws, bolts, or other fastening devices, but are generally characterized by one or more of the following drawbacks: They require time, skill and experience for properly aligning the lighting fixture to the junction box and for properly aligning the fasteners with respect to the junction box and the ceiling panel. They generally also require significant time to remove the junction box from the ceiling panel for purposes of inspection, cleaning, repair or replacement. In addition, they severely limit the design and configuration of the junction box and/or lighting fixture, in order to accommodate them for application to the ceiling panel. Still further, the appearance of fasteners, when used, also detracts from the appearance of the lighting fixture particularly when it is a recessed lighting fixture in a ceiling panel.
Various constructions have been developed for overcoming or reducing these drawbacks, as shown for example in US Patent application 2011/0110106, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,331,555, 6,554,458, 6,827,471 and 7,456,357. However, none of these known constructions has been found entirely satisfactory in one or more of the above respects.